In production of a semiconductor device, fine processing is carried out by a lithography process. The lithography process has a problem in which a resist pattern having a desired form is not formed during exposure of a resist layer on a substrate to an ultraviolet light laser such as a KrF excimer laser and an ArF excimer laser. The problem is caused by a standing wave due to reflection of the ultraviolet light laser on a surface of the substrate. In order to solve the problem, a resist underlayer film (anti-reflective coating) provided between the substrate and the resist layer is adopted. Use of a novolac resin as a composition for forming a resist underlayer film is known. For example, a photoresist underlayer film-forming material containing a resin having a repeating unit obtained by forming a novolac resin from a compound having a bisphenol group has been disclosed (Patent Document 1).
A spin coatable anti-reflective coating-forming composition containing a polymer having 3 or more fused aromatic rings in the backbone of the polymer has been disclosed (Patent Document 2).
A novolac resin using phenylnaphthylamine is used (Patent Document 3).
Use of such polymers as a dispersant has been proposed (Patent Document 4).